The Children's Crusade
by TheLostMaximoff
Summary: NXM fic. The mutant race wanted a Messiah. Instead, they got a generation that refuses to lay down and die.
1. Reconstruction

The Children's Crusade

By TheLostMaximoff

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. R/R because you know you love these kids.

(Author's Note): This story is largely the result of the fallout from "Messiah Complex" as well as promotional/interview stuff I've seen about "Young X-Men". I'm trying to stay in continuity as much as I can while still making up something new as I go along.

X

It had been two months since the X-Men, and consequently the New X-Men, had officially disbanded. Julian Keller sometimes felt as if he was still licking wounds from the perfect storm of events that had led to the destruction of everything in his life that was stable. He had teetered on the edge of life and death through most of that ordeal but once the dust cleared the X-Men were able to get him and the other kids that needed it patched up and healthy again. After that was taken care of, Emma Frost promptly presented each former student with a debit card connected to their own personal account containing enough money for them to do whatever they wished. The sum on the card wasn't much but it would be enough for those who needed new lives to find them and to help out those returning to old ones. Julian didn't really hear all of Miss Frost's little speech. He was still getting reacquainted with the joys of breathing. It was funny the things one chose to take for granted.

Julian missed his teammates. He had spent the first couple weeks wandering around New York City. There was no way he was going to come crawling back to Los Angeles and to his parents. He had lived with his brother, James, but that refused to last and Julian wasn't surprised by it. His brother was always too much like his father, too interested in the family business to think about bigger concerns. Julian knew the kind of life he wanted to lead and it wasn't the life of some corporate leech. He had been given a glimpse of his destiny while he had attended Xavier's and he wanted to see that destiny fulfilled. He had already hatched a scheme and laid the groundwork for said scheme. The only thing he needed to do now was track down his former teammates and convince them to go along with it. This was what brought him to a slightly run-down apartment building in Brooklyn.

"Let's see if I learned anything about pitching sales from little brother," muttered Julian as he knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. He could hear the noise of television behind the door, the program in question sounding a lot like professional wrestling. The former Hellion smiled as someone opened the door and he looked up at the golem-like creature that stood before him.

"Damn, you look better than the last time I saw you," said Santo as he motioned for Julian to come inside with him, "Dad's at work right now and Mom's out. I'm just watchin' TV."

"I kinda need your help with something," explained Julian as he came inside and watched Santo resume his seat on the floor. Upon returning home, Santo had quickly learned that sitting on normal furniture, ones that weren't specially reinforced to suit those weighing far more than any normal human ever could, didn't turn out very well for him. It was one of the many subtle differences between life at the Institute and life in the normal world.

"Feel like a big idiot," muttered Santo as he looked at Julian, "What do you need?"

"I don't have to tell you that this whole thing sucks," reminded Julian, "I thought about it a lot and I think I wanna reform the team."

"I dunno if you noticed by the lack of wallpaper in here and the smallness of this TV but this ain't Xavier's," said Santo, "What the hell are we gonna do for cash, Julian? The crap amount on those cards Miss Frost gave us won't be nearly enough even if we stuck all of ours together. I don't even know where some of us went."

"I do," explained Julian, "Look, I made some calls and stuff. I got a huge trust fund that I don't plan on using for college. We can make it work, big guy. Besides, are you really telling me you don't miss it?"

"Hell yeah I miss it," replied Santo with a grin, "Look, man, you're always the boss when it comes to me and the rest of the Hellions. You know I'm down for this but what am I supposed ta tell my parents? My old man never even graduated high school. He really wants this 'education' thing to work out for me."

"I'll think of something," assured Julian, "I got a list of the people I could find. The next stop on the list is Vic."

"Always did wanna see the country," said Santo with a grin, "We'll crash here until my parents get back. Grab yourself something to drink while you think of how to completely screw me."

"When have I ever gotten you into trouble?" asked Julian with a smirk.

"Only since the day I met you," retorted Santo as he turned his attention back to the TV.

XXXXX

"I can't believe we didn't get hassled by airport security," said Santo as he studied the tiny, plastic card in his hands, "Where did you get this thing anyways?"

"Had it made," replied Julian as he nervously looked around while walking up the driveway of the quaint, suburban home lodged in the quaint, little town their journey had taken them next. The plastic card Santo had was a fake Superhero Registration Card. Julian had used his connections to create one for each person on his list. The cards had been helpful in convincing Santo's parents that his scheme was completely legitimate. As far as the Vaccarros knew, their son was going off to a special training camp set up by The Initiative and endorsed by the people at the Institute. Julian hoped the same trick would work on Victor Borkowski's parents although from what Julian had heard about Victor's life back home trickery might not be required. Vic mentioned that his parents and his community in general were pretty supportive of his mutation. Still though, one could never be too sure.

"Where do you plan on settling down?" asked Santo as they waited for someone to answer the door.

"I think we should wait and see how many of us are in for this," decided Julian as he saw Victor Borkowski open the door and arch a scaly eyebrow at them.

"Dude, shouldn't you be in school right now?" asked Santo.

"Home-schooled," replied Victor, "Shouldn't you two be in some other state?"

"I'm going to make this quick," assured Julian, "Santo and I are getting the band back together, Vic. Are you up for it?"

"I always thought you might be crazy," admitted Victor as he held up the larger, more deformed of his arms, "I'd really not like the rest of my limbs to end up this way even though it might help because this one makes me feel all lopsided and uneven."

"I told you that me and X would take care of that for you," reminded Santo.

"Letting you intentionally cut off my limbs just on the off chance they'll grow back is extremely morbid," declared Victor, "Look, guys, I've got studying to do and a house to protect from intolerant assholes so you can understand that I'm going to have to pass on this."

"I thought everyone here was cool with you," said Julian.

"Not exactly," admitted Victor, "That was part of the reason why I came to Xavier's. I agreed with my parents that it would be the safest move for me and my family. At least we got half of that right."

"Can we at least come in and talk to your parents?" asked Julian.

"What exactly are you going to tell them that will make them agree with this?" questioned Victor.

"Victor?" asked a female voice, "Who's that at the door?" Julian saw Victor's mother come to the door.

"Mrs. Borkowski, my name is Julian Keller," explained Julian, "I was a classmate of your son's at the Institute. Miss Frost and Mr. Summers didn't want to tell anyone until the paperwork was finished but Victor has been chosen for a new, special program sponsored by The Initiative. I've been instructed to come and take him back to New York." Julian pulled out a SRA card with Victor's name and picture on it.

"Victor, you didn't mention anything about this," said Mrs. Borkowski.

"That's because it's a lie," stated Victor, "There's no training camp, Mom. I'm not registered and I never will be because I think Tony Stark's an idiot."

"Way to freakin' go, Vic," said Santo.

"I don't lie to my parents," stated Victor, "Mom, it's true that these guys were classmates with me at the Institute. Julian thinks it would be a wonderful idea to get our team back together and he wants me to come with him."

"I thought Mr. Summers disbanded the team," said Mrs. Borkowski.

"He did," admitted Julian, "I would be the one running the show, Mrs. Borkowski. I don't know how much you or your husband know about what Victor's already been through but I can tell you we would take care of him as best we could. We need your son on this team, Mrs. Borkowski."

"I'm flattered," said Victor sarcastically, "You guys can stay here today in case people show up to run me out of town or whatever but tomorrow you have to leave and I really don't think I'll be coming with you."

"That cool with you, Mrs. B?" asked Santo.

"My husband is out right now but I don't think we would mind having Victor's friends stay the night," admitted Mrs. Borkowski, "Julian, you'll have to discuss your future plans for Victor with my husband and I."

"I understand that," assured Julian as Mrs. Borkowski led the two boys into the house before going back into the kitchen.

"Why not come with us?" asked Julian as soon as Victor's mother had left the room, "What do you have here that's so great?"

"The luxury of not having to look over my shoulder for one thing," countered Victor, "Things aren't the greatest here but at least I don't have to worry about the Sentinels or the Marauders or the Reavers anymore. At least I can still be a little normal even though I'm not."

"Fine then," conceded Julian, "We'll stay here for the day but I really want you to think about this."

"I will," assured Victor, "but I don't think it'll change my mind."

XXXXX

"So your parents are cool with the whole 'g-a-y' thing?" asked Santo. Victor rolled his eyes at the fact that Santo was simultaneously harping on and dancing around the issue of his sexual preference. Victor preferred not to dwell on his sexuality. He was what he was and he didn't see a need to spend time thinking about it when he could devote that time to thinking about other, more rewarding things.

"So you can tell all my classmates I'm gay but now you can't even say the word?" asked Victor.

"Hey, I was just trying to break the ice that last time," explained Santo.

"You basically dragged me out of the closet," corrected Victor, "You're just lucky mostly everyone knew about it already otherwise I really would've gotten mad at you."

"Like you could do anything about it anyway," retorted Santo with a smirk.

"I kicked your ass that one time," reminded Victor as his attention returned to the television, "Yeah, they're cool with it." He noticed Julian walk into the living room and take a seat on the couch.

"How'd that meeting go with the parents?" asked Santo.

"Did you make sure to tell them everything?" asked Victor.

"They don't like it," explained Julian, "It doesn't matter anyway if you decide not to come with us but for what it's worth they're grudgingly approving so long as we take care of you. They think you leaving for a while might ease some of the tension around this town."

"Story of my life," said Victor sadly, "I do miss you guys. The Institute was probably one of the few places where I felt normal even after the trip to Hell and the threat of impending death looming over my head."

"Too bad Miss Frost didn't hook some of us up with image inducers," said Santo, "I mean most people in New York City are used to seeing weird crap but it's probably tough out here in the sticks."

"I wouldn't have used one even if she gave it to me," admitted Victor, "Besides, I can disappear any time I feel like it if people staring at me becomes too much of an issue." All three boys slightly jumped at the sound of a window shattering. Victor heard another crash upstairs that was probably the window in his parents' room.

"Right on time," muttered Victor as Julian threw up a telekinetic shield in front of him to block any incoming objects and quickly moved towards the front door. He felt something explode against it as soon as he stepped onto the porch. Julian thought that the angry townsfolk had broken the windows with bricks or other blunt objects. He didn't realize they were using shotguns.

"It's another one of them!" yelled a member of the mob. Julian felt a thud behind him that he knew meant Santo was backing him up. He wasn't going to waste time dealing with these idiots lightly. His eyes glowed green before all the firearms the mob had brought with them suddenly dislodged themselves from their owners' hands and came towards him.

"Is this your definition of protecting your family?" asked Julian as he looked at Victor.

"This isn't something I should have to do," retorted Victor as he stepped in front of Julian, "If any of you have some sort of problem with me then you take it up with _me_. Leave my parents and my family out of this."

"You were better off stayin' at that fancy school," assured one of the men in the mob as he moved towards Victor with obviously hostile intentions. To his credit, Victor stood his ground as the man introduced his fist to the boy's jaw.

"Yeah, I was," admitted Victor, "but it got blown up so now I'm back here. I think it would be a smart idea, Mr. Tillman, if you stopped worrying about other people's kids and started worrying about your own. Last time I checked, your teenage daughter was still pregnant."

"Least that kid will be normal," countered Tillman as he readied for another swing at Victor, "Better than a freak like you." The man threw the punch but Santo quickly inserted part of his body between the man's fist and Victor's jaw.

"This kid has been through more crap than you can even imagine," assured Santo, "You wanna be a big man and pick on somebody? Try me, pal."

"It's a school night," commented Julian as he telekinetically crushed the guns into one ball of twisted metal, "I think you boys should run along home now." Rockslide gave Tillman an intimidating look that made the man flinch and back away. It wasn't long before the rest of the mob got the hint and quickly began dispersing.

"They'll be back tomorrow," reminded Victor.

"Not if you leave with us," replied Julian, "Think about if we hadn't have been here tonight, Vic. You really think you could've scared them all away before they tagged your house with racial slurs while beating the crap outta you? They could've shot you dead, Vic, or worse yet they could've killed a member of your family."

"I know," admitted Victor quietly, "I know that, alright? You obviously want me on this team really badly and I appreciate it. I don't think I really have a choice right now."

"That mean you're comin' with us?" asked Julian.

"Yeah," replied Victor as he looked back inside his house, "Yeah, I'm in." He knew it wasn't necessarily the right thing to do but at this point it was probably the safest thing to do. Someone had to be willing to stand up and prevent things like this from happening to innocent kids and if the real X-Men didn't plan on doing it then Victor Borkowski figured he and his friends would have to be willing to take their place.

"Where's our next stop?" asked Santo as he looked at Julian.

"We gotta pick up the girls," replied Julian.

XXXXX

Cessily Kincaid yawned as she put her pajamas back on after stepping out of the shower. Technically she didn't need to take a shower but it always made her feel more human to do so. She stretched as she made her way into the living room of her apartment and saw Sooraya sitting on the couch.

"You are up earlier than usual," noted Sooraya with a slight smile as she took a sip of her tea

"Force of habit," admitted Cessily, "I still have an internal clock and it still wants to get up for Danger Room practices even though I like sleeping till some time in the afternoon. I think we're trying to meet each other halfway."

"Megan has returned from work," informed Sooraya, "She is already asleep again." Cessily nodded and turned on the television. It was another cloudy, overcast day in Seattle. Cessily was used to the weather by now. After the team disbanded, Cessily attempted to move back home with her parents but she couldn't handle being a veritable shut-in. She had contacted Sooraya and the two of them tried to figure out a new place to live. She discovered that Megan was living with Sooraya in Los Angeles and the three of them settled on moving to Seattle.

"Have you heard anything from Nori?" asked Cessily suddenly.

"No," replied Sooraya with a sad shake of her head, "Not since Megan and I left Los Angeles to come live with you. I have tried to contact her but nothing has come of it."

"We suck as this," said Cessily morosely, "How is it that the only time we were anything close to normal teenagers was when we had targets painted on our backs by the rest of the world?"

"Allah works in mysterious ways," reminded Sooraya, modifying the idiom she had heard so many Americans use.

"We need to get jobs," said Cessily, "Our cash flow is starting to die out and we can't have Megan cover the whole apartment on her salary."

"I know," assured Sooraya, her tone calm and even, "I know how much you miss them, Cessily. It has been tough on all of us." Cessily sighed as she thought about the rest of her former teammates who were out there somewhere in the world trying to scrape by with their own lives. Some days she thought she might as well have died in that bus explosion with the others for all the good she was doing in the world.

"One of us should get that," said Cessily as the phone suddenly rang. She wondered just who would be calling them. It was probably someone Megan knew since she was the only one of them who had really adapted to life in the city. It didn't really surprise Cessily considering how talkative and bubbly Megan was despite what had happened to her in Limbo.

"Hello," said Sooraya as she reached over and picked up the phone.

"We're standing outside on the corner," said Julian, "We'll be up in a second."

"Julian?" asked Sooraya skeptically, "What are you doing here?" She quickly moved to the window and looked down onto the street.

"No way," said Cessily as she looked down with her roommate and saw Julian, Santo, and Victor heading into the building, "There's no way." Sooraya clicked off the phone while Cessily quickly went into Megan's room to wake the younger girl up.

"Meg, you have to get up," said Cessily as she shook the pixie girl, "The guys are here, Meg!"

"I just finished my shift at the radio station," grumbled Megan sleepily, her wings fluttering in response to Cessily shaking her, "These guys better look hot. I mean hot like the 'Cyclops in his underwear' kind of hot 'cause it's way too early in the morning for anything less."

"It's Julian, Santo, and Victor," explained Cessily, "They're coming up, Meg!"

"Wait, what?" asked Megan as she rubbed her eyes and yawned, "You mean _those_ guys?"

"Yes _those_ guys," said Cessily with a huge smile.

"This I have to see," admitted Megan as Cessily hurried to let the boys in. Megan flapped her wings and rose into the air before zipping into the living room like a hummingbird.

"You know you don't have to dress up for them," reminded Megan as she saw Sooraya finish putting on the veil that kept almost all of her face covered.

"It is a habit," reminded Sooraya with a grin that Megan could no longer see. Megan shrugged before zipping behind Cessily to form a line of hugging that began as soon as Julian stepped into the apartment.

"Nice place," commented Santo as he lumbered into the room, "Seriously, this place is swank."

"Yeah, well we won't be able to keep it for long unless we get some cash coming in," said Cessily, "I don't think Megan can handle another shift at the radio station."

"You work at a radio station?" asked Julian skeptically as he looked at Megan, "What sane person gave you a microphone and an audience?"

"Hey, at least I have a job," replied Megan, "I do the morning shift for KISW so if people want rock music while driving to work then they have to put up with me."

"You know I think I'd just rather get a gun and . . .," began Santo.

"Seattle," reminded Victor, "You really don't want to make that joke here."

"You guys are so mean," declared Megan as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Santo, "I remember now why I left."

"You left for the same reason we all did," reminded Julian, "We got kicked out after our home blew up." There was an uncomfortable silence in the room as all of the former children of the X dwelt on that unpleasant occurrence.

"I think the adults are serious this time," said Cessily quietly, "I mean the mansion's been destroyed before but this time I think they're really serious about no more X-Men."

"I believe we should respect their decision," suggested Sooraya.

"They decided _for_ us," countered Julian, "That's why we're here. You girls up for getting the team back together?"

"Wait, seriously?" asked Megan, "Won't we get in super-big trouble for that?"

"The adults obviously don't care about us," reminded Julian, "They may think the war is over but it's not. C'mon, Meg, you should know what the world out there is like better than any of us."

"It sucks," admitted Megan sadly, "The anti-mutant crap is starting to rise again. I have to wear a jacket to work all the time and press my wings down so nobody will know about me and fire me. That's bad enough but there's also this stupid registration stuff and the whole thing with The Initiative. That's where Josh and Alani are right now. I get emails from her about once a week talking about how great Camp Hammond is and how all of us should come down."

"Show of hands," said Julian, "Who thinks we should go work for Tony Stark and those tools at The Initiative?" No one raised their hand.

"We don't have a choice," said Cessily, "We can't play superhero without a license unless we want SHIELD on our ass." Julian smiled and held up a trio of fake cards made out for the girls.

"They're totally fake," explained Santo as Cessily took the one with her picture on it and looked at it, "We've been using them to get past airport security. Once they see you're workin' for The Man they practically fall over themselves to help you out."

"We could go to jail for this," said Cessily as she looked at Julian.

"You were just commenting on how you wished for things to return to the way they were," reminded Sooraya.

"I'm totally down for this," assured Megan, "Well, as long as I still get to live here and have my job. I really like it."

"Yeah, we figured that out," said Victor with a grin, "Not a big surprise."

"What about you?" asked Cessily as she looked at Sooraya, "I mean if you say yes I guess I pretty much have to go in with you."

"In my homeland, to defy the law meant to bring great peril onto oneself," explained Sooraya, "I have come to believe in the right to freely choose our own paths and my choice is to continue being a member of this team. I believe in America you call this 'civil disobedience'. I think I might like that."

"Then that's my choice too," agreed Cessily with a smile, "There's a couple conditions though."

"What would those be?" asked Julian with an arched eyebrow.

"Like Megan said, we like living here," explained Cessily, "I dunno where you decided to get us a 'secret base' or whatever. I don't even know if you have the money for it but we like living in Seattle so maybe it would be good to make our home here. It's a nice city except for the rain."

"I can float the cash," assured Julian, "We'll settle here but there's one more stop I have to make. Anybody seen Nori?" All three girls looked at one another nervously, Megan and Sooraya especially.

"She lives in L.A. still," explained Megan quietly, "Sooraya and I tried to get her to come with us here but she wouldn't do it. She's . . . she's pretty screwed up, Julian. I mean like seriously messed up."

"How bad?" asked Julian.

"Real bad," replied Megan.

"The inherent difficulty of free choice," commented Sooraya, "Sometimes those we care about make the wrong choices."


	2. Losing My Religion

The Children's Crusade (Part Two)

By TheLostMaximoff

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. R/R.

Noriko Ashida stared at her shaking hands and then looked at herself in the dingy, grimy mirror as she stood in the bathroom of the bar she currently worked at. Her trembling fingers barely managed to unscrew the cap on the bottle of pills she held before she poured some of the pills into her other hand. She cursed herself as a few of the capsules slipped from her hands and tumbled down the drain. She grabbed the bottle of alcohol she had brought with her off the top of the toilet and downed the pills followed by a swig from the bottle. Nori felt the constant buzzing and tingling of the electricity in her body momentarily subside and she checked herself in the mirror before stuffing the pills back in her purse and walking out of the bathroom. She headed back behind the bar and continued polishing a few glasses. Business was slow during the day, the real fun waiting until nightfall.

"Forget your gauntlets?" asked an unfamiliar voice. Nori's blood turned ice cold as she glared at the man in a business suit sitting at the bar. Her gauntlets had been damaged about a month and a half ago. After she was unable to contact Forge, Nori had given up wearing the things. Unfortunately, that meant she had to resort to the old methods of controlling her power.

"You obviously know about me," said Nori as she leaned over the bar and put herself in the man's face, "If you don't leave this place in two seconds then I'm going to show you exactly why I needed those gauntlets in the first place."

"You shouldn't threaten me," replied the man coolly, "It's very unladylike especially when I can give you everything you need."

"What I _need_ is a cheaper way to score drugs," retorted Nori, "Unless you're a dealer I really don't think you have anything I want."

"I deal in all manner of things," assured the man, "I can give you an effective, healthy, more pleasant-looking way of controlling your power, Noriko. I can also fix your ruined relationship with Mr. David Alleyne."

"What's the catch?" asked Nori quietly.

"You'll have to do something for me," said the man, "Julian Keller is starting up the junior squad of X-Men again. I know because he came to me about funding, which I took care of once he had performed a few tasks. He's going to try to recruit you."

"I fail to see why you should give a damn," said Nori.

"I have a client who wants Julian's plan to fail," explained the man, "That's what I do, Noriko. I am but a humble dealmaker. I help people help themselves."

"So what do you want me to do?" asked Nori.

"You will be bait for the trap," assured the man, "You help me complete my obligations with my client by delivering him Julian Keller and in return I will use my connections to help you fix your problems, starting with that nasty pill addiction you've developed."

"And if I say no?" asked Nori skeptically.

"I leave this bar and this conversation never happened," replied the man simply, "So there's really only one question you should ask yourself, Noriko. Do you want to play the game?"

XXXXX

"You sure we should be doing this?" Julian Keller wasn't really sure about a lot of things but he knew this felt right. They were about to do a good thing and he wasn't going to let the rest of the world tell him that it was wrong to try and be a hero.

"You made the commitment, Megan," reminded Hellion as he looked at Pixie, "You're the one who works with this guy. Is he or isn't he?"

"I've seen the wristband he wears," assured Pixie, "From the way he talks, he's definitely part of the Stryker Crusade. I thought all those jerks would crawl back under their rocks once Stryker was gone."

"There's that old proverb about cutting off the snake's head," reminded Anole, "It's too bad groups like these are more like hydras than snakes. You cut off one head and about five more will pop up."

"You guys gonna talk about this all night or are we gonna beat the snot outta someone?" asked Rockslide nervously.

"Some of us have a flight to L.A. to catch," reminded Hellion, "We'll take care of this quick and quiet."

"Which means I get stuck doing the dirty work," said Anole, finishing what his apparent team leader was about to suggest. He quietly began climbing up the side of the building, using his camouflage power to keep anyone from noticing him. Most of the windows in the abandoned warehouse were already broken. It was an easy matter for Anole to slip inside the building and start scouting around. There were rows and rows of folding chairs that were occupied by people of various ages, races, and social backgrounds. Anole could see a large banner with the logo of the Stryker Crusade on it hanging behind a makeshift stage complete with a microphone. Victor clung to the inside wall, wedging himself in the corner where the wall met the ceiling.

"Brothers and sisters," said a voice as a man in his twenties took the stage, "I greet you in the name of our God and in the name of our holy Reverend William Stryker." Victor felt his stomach turn as the man continued with what was apparently a sermon. He wasn't going to wait around listening to this garbage. Anole stuck his arm out of the broken window and waved to his teammates below. He winced as Rockslide promptly punched through the door. That was his cue to start a preemptive strike. Anole quickly slid down the wall and leapt towards the stage to take out the man who was the leader.

"Boy, if you thought Jehovah's Witnesses were pushy then you must really hate us," said Rockslide as he smashed his way into the room, "Hey, do you guys do the 'free food' thing at these meetings? I could go for something to eat right about now." The congregation of people did what most large groups of people would do in the current situation. There was mass panic and hysteria on all fronts. The poor, brave souls who decided to combat the mutant scum rushed headlong at Rockslide.

"How come I'm so popular with the dudes all of a sudden?" asked Rockslide as he barely felt the blows from the panicked rabble, "I thought that was Vic's thing."

"I heard that," assured Anole from across the room as he continued making his way to the preacher for tonight's congregation. He saw the young man trying to duck out of the back. Anole wasn't going to let him even get as far as the door.

"I always hate this part," muttered Anole before his tongue shot out of his mouth and wrapped around the man's ankles, effectively tripping him and sending him to the floor. Anole began reeling his tongue back in like a fishing line, dragging the man towards him.

"You want me to really hurt them?" asked Rockslide as he harmlessly tossed aside his assailants.

"I got it covered," assured Pixie as she flew overhead and let out a shower of her hallucinogenic dust, "You might wanna cover your mouth unless you always wondered what it was like to drop acid." It took mere seconds for the crowd of angry racists to become spaced-out zombies lost in a world of extremely bright rainbows and disgustingly sappy unicorns. At least that was what Pixie hoped would occur. She couldn't always control what her dust did to people and after her trip through Limbo the people who inhaled it hadn't always experienced such happy visions.

"This the guy?" asked Hellion as he gestured to the man Anole was taking care of.

"Yeah," replied Pixie, "Don't hurt him a lot though. He's a good kid, really. He's just . . . you know."

"Trent, Trent, Trent," said Hellion with a sad shake of his head as he floated over to the man and looked down at him, "I hear you have a problem with mutants, Trent. I hear you're pretty vocal about it too."

"This is a total violation of our rights," protested the man, "All of you freaks will be hauled into court once I dial up SHIELD!"

"Take your time," suggested Hellion as he flashed the fake SHRA card at Trent and then telekinetically lifted the man up to his level so he could be eye to eye with him, "You wanna hear a little story, Trent?"

"I don't want to hear anything from you," assured the man, "This is exactly the kind of morally bankrupt behavior I would expect from your kind. Harassing innocent people is a crime."

"Oh, Trent, we _do_ need to talk," said Hellion as he grabbed the man's collar, "Let me tell you about your pal, William Stryker, and his buddies. They blew up a bus containing forty-two ex-mutant children. I lost my best friend in that explosion, Trent. In fact, this crazy cyborg chick almost killed me on the orders of whoever leads your little Crusade. So you can see why watching you people gather and preach your hate speech upsets me, Trent."

"None of that has to do with me," stated Trent.

"You happen to work with a good friend of mine," said Hellion, "Don't worry; you'll see so much weird crap tonight you probably won't remember this meeting at all. You'll probably chalk it up to some sort of transcendent experience you had with God while you were here telling all these people about how the muties will burn in Hell."

"What do you want from me then?" asked Trent.

"I got a message that needs delivering," stated Hellion viciously, "You go tell your Crusade buddies here in Seattle and in D.C. and in New York. You go tell whoever's higher on the ladder than you in this little club and you make sure they spread the word. The X-Men are still standing, Trent, and we're pretty pissed off. If you think you can take us down then come and try. If not then do everyone a favor and lay off the hate speech against mutants." Hellion shoved Trent away.

"Seriously, if I still was able to I think I would've just soiled myself," said Rockslide.

"Dust him," ordered Hellion as he looked to Pixie, "Sooraya and Cess are already at the airport waiting on me. We'll get Nori back while you guys take care of this mess."

"I'm really sorry about this," apologized Pixie as she blew a cloud of her pixie dust in Trent's face, "Trust me, you so got off easy." Trent's eyes glazed over as he became lost in whatever fantasy world his mind could come up with as a result of the psychoactive chemicals in Pixie's dust.

"Is this really how we're going to make it safe for mutants again?" asked Anole as he walked away with Hellion, "All the other kids always said you were a young Magneto but I never put too much stock in it until now."

"You know what the Stryker Crusade did to us," retorted Hellion with venom in his throat, "That guy's lucky I didn't put him in the hospital."

"I understand all that," assured Anole, "You've seen where I grew up. I lived in a town that slowly started to become full of people like him but we can't go around threatening whoever we want."

"I know," admitted Hellion as he turned back and looked at Anole, "It just pisses me off that those people can get away with everything they've done to us. I've put everything on the line for this, Vic, and it's because I don't want to see the same thing happen to you guys."

"We're not going anywhere," assured Anole, "You want this team to stand for something and it does. Just make sure you know what it stands for."

"I've got a plane to catch," said Hellion as he rose into the air, "I promise things will get better, Vic. We just have to find a system that works."

XXXXX

"Where did you get these things?" asked Mercury as the trio of young mutants exited the airport.

"I had someone make them," replied Hellion, "We've got enough problems without getting hassled by The Initiative every time we go out. I just figured this would be the safest way to avoid that."

"They must've cost a fortune," said Mercury skeptically, "How much was in that trust fund of yours, Julian?"

"Not important," replied Hellion dismissively, "Sooraya, where are we going?"

"When Megan and I lived with her, Nori worked at a bar," explained Dust, "I believe it was called 'Rockwell's' or something like that."

"It's downtown," assured Hellion as he raised his hand for a cab, "We'll start from there and see where we go. You can tell me exactly what went on with her on the way there."

"I would rather not discuss it," admitted Dust as the three of them got into the cab. The driver gave them an odd look.

"Rockwell's," ordered Hellion as he pulled out a sizeable amount of cash, "Don't ask any questions." The cabbie nodded and pulled away from the curb.

"You could've just gotten your parents to send us a limo," reminded Mercury.

"My parents have no clue what I'm doing," replied Hellion, "I think we have an unspoken arrangement to keep it that way. Sooraya, you need to explain what's going on."

"Noriko is . . . hurting," attempted Dust quietly, "We tried as best we could to help but she refused it. It is the only regret I have about coming to Seattle and living there."

"You said you tried to get her to come too," said Mercury.

"Nori was unmanageable," admitted Dust, "She still had issues with David and their relationship and her behavior was more erratic by the day. Her gauntlets broke and she had to resort to other methods to control her power."

"Which were what?" asked Hellion.

"Numerous quantities of pills," explained Dust, "Sometimes they were mixed with alcohol. Megan and I never asked where she obtained these things. As I said, we tried to help her but it became too much. Moving to Seattle was a way for us to escape."

"It's been rough on all of us," assured Mercury as she held Sooraya's hand, "We'll talk some sense into her."

"One can only hope," replied Dust sadly.

XXXXX

Noriko Ashida didn't like this. Of course there were a lot of things she didn't like. She didn't like the fact that she had shot herself in the back concerning her relationship with David Alleyne. She didn't like the fact that she had to resort to a fistful of pills as a way to keep her power in check. She didn't like the fact that she was going to sell out her closest friends in order to fix all of the other problems in her life.

"Right on time," said Surge to herself as she watched Hellion walk into the building while she was wiping down the bar, "You'd probably feel more at home if you came back on Friday night. We get a lot of drunk frat boys that night." Nori wondered if Hellion had been foolish enough to bring some of the others along. She couldn't believe he had the nerve to try and reform the team. Couldn't he see what wearing the X had cost them? Couldn't he see how screwed up they had become because of their affiliation with the X-Men?

"I'm gonna cut to the chase," said Hellion as he took a seat at the bar and stared at Surge, "Sooraya and Cessily are outside waiting for me. We want you to come back with us, Nori." Surge felt her teeth grind together in a most unladylike manner as she attempted not to laugh at Hellion's proposal.

"I have to close up," said Surge, "I'm not coming back with you, Julian. Wearing those uniforms has screwed up our lives enough as it is. Why would you want to go through all that crap again?"

"Tell me your life is better now," countered Hellion, "Tell me you like popping pills and drinking yourself to death every night just to keep yourself under control. Tell me you like your life now and make me believe it because right now I'm calling you a liar."

"What I do with my life isn't your business anymore," stated Surge as she walked around the bar and stood toe to toe with Hellion, "You're going to get someone killed, Julian. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but some day somebody is going to die because of this. After watching so many of our friends die, how can you even dare to put the ones we have left through this again?"

"The adults are gone, Nori," said Hellion, "They just gave up and thought that the world would be a better place without the X-Men. They're wrong, Nori, and I'm gonna prove it to them. You wanna tell me you _don't_ want to rub it in Miss Frost's face?"

"It's not worth dying for," assured Surge as she turned to walk away, "Leave, Julian. Just turn around and go home. I'm not going to be polite again."

"I don't even get a goodbye kiss?" asked Hellion as he grabbed her wrist to keep her from leaving.

"I was feeling kinda bad about doing this until you said that," admitted Surge as she turned to look at Hellion with lightning crackling in her eyes, "You never did know when to quit." Hellion felt the electricity suddenly course through his veins. He let out a cry of pain before he fell to the floor.

XXXXX

"We should be in there with him," said Mercury.

"Julian is adept at taking care of himself," reminded Dust, "Nori will not harm him." Cessily wasn't exactly so sure of that. Surge always had a quick temper and Hellion was known for rubbing people the wrong way. Putting the two of them together often made for explosive situations. Mercury was the first to hear the cry and feel the electricity in the air. That was all the evidence she needed that something was wrong.

"Did you . . .?" began Dust.

"I heard it," replied Mercury hastily as she ran into the building. She cursed her recklessness as a lightning bolt suddenly hit her and her body quickly lost its humanoid shape. Mercury screamed as her body dissolved into a puddle on the floor after another bolt. A miniature sandstorm suddenly blew into the room and shrouded everything inside in a thick layer of sand and grit.

"I don't want to hurt you," assured Surge as she shielded her eyes from the hail of sand, "but I have a deal to complete." Surge let out a wide-range attack with her lightning. The bolts leapt from her body in wild, jagged arcs that scorched the walls of the building. The lightning did far more than that. She knew enough basic science to know what happened when lightning struck sand. Surge steadied herself against the bar as the sandstorm turned into a shower of glass and she saw Dust on the floor struggling to rise to her feet. Sooraya barely managed to scrape together enough dust to reform her body without part of it being turned to glass due to the heat of the lightning strike. She clawed at the floor in an effort to find something to help her get back to her feet.

"It's nothing personal," assured Surge as she looked down at Dust, "A man came to me and told me that he could give me my heart's desire. The only thing I had to do was deliver Julian to him. You and Cess just get to come along for the ride."

"Traitor," hissed Dust as she struggled to remain conscious.

"There's nothing left to betray," retorted Surge as she hit Dust with a low-level shock that knocked the Muslim girl unconscious.


	3. Mutants on a Plane

The Children's Crusade (Part Three)

By TheLostMaximoff

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

"He's not answering his cell phone." Pixie nervously bit her lip as she put her phone to her ear once more and heard the sound of the automated voice system telling her to leave a message after the tone.

"Maybe he has it turned off," suggested Rockslide as he sat on the floor and flicked through the TV channels, "Man you guys have a lot of channels."

"Do you always think about TV so much?" asked Anole.

"You two worry way too much," countered Rockslide, "Julian said he was going to call before they left to come back here. That means he'll call when they're ready to leave."

"Or it means he's in trouble," corrected Pixie, "I just got the message that there's no service."

"We have to assume that's bad," stated Anole, "We need a quick way to get to Los Angeles so we can back them up. Any suggestions?" Anole and Rockslide stared at each other for two seconds before they both suddenly looked at Pixie. Megan let out a small squeak and felt herself shrink under their combined gazes. She knew what they were about to suggest and she didn't like it.

"Uhm, well we could . . .," stammered Pixie hopelessly as she tried to come up with some alternative.

"You could teleport us there," finished Anole.

"Guys, remember the last time I tried that," reminded Pixie, "It was a super-huge mess and we ended up all scattered around everywhere. It only worked in Limbo 'cause it was Limbo and that place was, like, the black magic capital of the universe or something."

"It's the fastest way to get there," said Anole.

"I could put you two on my shoulders and then jump across, like, three states Hulk-style," added Rockslide.

"Yes!" agreed Pixie frantically, "We should totally do that. That is such a way better idea than . . ."

"Beam us up, Scotty," finished Anole, "Our friends are in trouble and we don't have the time to discuss it further."

"Alright," mumbled Pixie, "Just don't blame me if something screws up. I tried to warn you."

XXXXX

Hellion mumbled incoherently as he awoke to find himself in a limousine. He glanced over to the window in an attempt to figure out where the car was going but he saw that the glass was too dark to make out anything.

"I thought you would be used to this," said a somewhat familiar voice. Hellion saw a man that he didn't exactly expect to see again sitting across from him in the car.

"Kingmaker," muttered Hellion, "I thought part of our deal was that you would leave us alone after I did you a few favors."

"That was never part of our deal, Mr. Keller," reminded the Kingmaker, "Our deal was a simple exchange. You ran a few errands for me and, in return, I gave you enough money to help you restart your little club. I never agreed to leave you alone."

"What the hell is this about and where are the girls?" asked Hellion.

"I have a client who wants a word with you," stated Kingmaker, "He doesn't like what you're doing and he asked me to make sure you don't succeed."

"Like you could ever stop me," said Hellion as he attempted to use his telekinesis on the car. Unfortunately, the Kingmaker always came prepared and he had already taken precautions against such an attack.

"You are quite predictable, Mr. Keller," lamented Kingmaker as he gestured to the manacles that were currently keeping Hellion's hands locked together, "You'll find those cuffs keep you quite powerless. You know I never come ill-prepared for a job."

"Where are the girls?" asked Hellion again.

"Behind us," assured Kingmaker as he gestured to the second limo following theirs, "Miss Ashida is keeping an eye on them and I've got a few operatives keeping an eye on her. She was really quite easy to sell on the idea of betraying you. All it took was the proper motivation."

"What did you tell her?" asked Hellion.

"The same thing I tell everyone," retorted the Kingmaker with a smirk, "I make dreams come true, Julian. All you have to do is be willing to play the game. Your parents were quite willing, you were quite willing, and now she is quite willing. You X-Men really aren't as high and mighty as you paint yourselves as, Julian. Everyone has something that they want. All I do is provide the means."

XXXXX

"What the hell are you doing?" Surge rolled her eyes as she looked at Dust and Mercury. The Kingmaker had only brought one set of power-nullifying cuffs so they had to improvise. Since Surge's powers were very effective at keeping Mercury and Dust in check, Kingmaker decided to take two cars. Surge knew he had people watching her. He hadn't told her where they were going, only the driver knew for sure. Nori didn't intend to mess things up just yet. She was intent on playing the game and seeing where it would lead her.

"I made a deal," stated Surge, "Kingmaker has a client who wants you guys to stop what you're doing. I help him and I get everything that I want. He's already helped me with my control problems. You wouldn't believe what a relief it is to not feel this constant buzzing, tingling feeling all the freakin' time." Mercury looked Surge up and down and finally saw what she was talking about. Nori was wearing a pair of metal bands around her wrists.

"Nori, listen," explained Mercury, "You don't know this guy like we do. Making a deal with him is like dealing with the Devil. Nothing good will come out of it."

"So I should trust the X-Men to take care of me?" asked Surge contemptuously, "I mean that's worked out so well for me. Come on, Cess, if Forge was such a super-genius inventor then why did I have to wear those huge, clunky gauntlets instead of these things? If Cyclops and Miss Frost were such great leaders then why did they just give up? The adults never cared about us, Cess. They never really wanted to help us or teach us. All they wanted to do was turn us into soldiers and then send us off to die for some stupid cause."

"Your anger is greatly misplaced, Noriko," stated Dust weakly. Surge's lightning attack had taken a lot out of her and she was still recovering from it.

"Don't start with it again, Sooraya," warned Surge dangerously, "You lost the right to criticize me when you and Megan decided to abandon me."

"I made a mistake," admitted Dust, "It does not have to remain this way, Nori."

"I have to keep up my end of the deal," reminded Surge, "If the Kingmaker wanted to kill you guys then he would've done it already. Apparently this client of his wants to do it himself."

"So we should believe you that Julian's okay?" asked Mercury skeptically.

"Yeah, you should," replied Surge, "You shouldn't put so much faith in him, Cess. From what the Kingmaker told me, he's done some pretty terrible things in order to get the money he needs to keep your team together."

"What are you talking about?" asked Mercury.

"Makes sense that he'd lie to you," said Surge with a grin, "We seem to have some time to kill. I'll tell you what I heard and then you can decide if it's worth staying on the team."

XXXXX

"This is the place Nori worked at," said Pixie as the three New X-Men stood outside Rockwell's, "I mean there's totally no guarantee that she even still lives in this part of the city."

"After that teleportation, I think I could use a drink," admitted Rockslide as he steadied himself again, "Man, I think this is the only time I wish I could still throw up."

"Suck it up," said Anole, "She got us here in one piece and that's the important thing."

"Tell that to my stomach," replied Rockslide, "I think I left it back in whatever dimension we went through." Anole ignored Rockslide's grumblings and attempted to open the door to the bar. He wasn't surprised that it was locked. He craned his neck and looked through the glass on the front door. He could see the scorch marks on the walls. Something had happened in there.

"Anyone know how to pick a lock?" asked Anole.

"If you wanted the door open then you should've just said so," said Rockslide as he pulled his arm back and readied to strike the front door of the bar. Anole looked at him and shook his head, indicating that breaking and entering didn't possess the level of tact and secrecy that was required for this operation.

"We can't risk the attention," stated Anole.

"I never get to do anything fun," grumbled Rockslide as he lowered his fist. Pixie stifled her giggles as Rockslide crossed his arms over his chest and turned his back to his teammates, sulking as if he was some five-year-old. It was then that he noticed something on the bottom of his foot.

"Santo, what . . .?" began Anole.

"This better not be what I think it is," said Rockslide as he lifted his foot off the ground, "Seriously, someone's gonna have to scrape this off."

"Eew, gross," stated Pixie, "There's totally no way I'm touching that whatever it is." Anole braced himself as he put his hand under Rockslide's foot and scraped against it. He stared at his hand, his fingers now covered in viscous, silver goo that looked very familiar.

"It's not dog crap," confirmed Anole, "You're safe there."

"Isn't that what Cessily's body is made out of?" asked Pixie as she studied the liquid, "Is she, like, leaking or something?"

"There's more of it," confirmed Rockslide as he saw a line of the liquid mercury trail down the street, "You think something's wrong with her?"

"She's not leaking," said Anole as he shook his hand to get rid of the gunk, "She's leaving us a trail."

XXXXX

"Get out," ordered Surge as she gestured to the goon who opened the door to the limo. Mercury and Dust made no movement to get out of the vehicle. Surge's hand suddenly crackled with lightning, the arcs of electricity dancing back and forth in a dangerous pattern.

"You can't trust him," stated Mercury.

"You can't trust Julian," retorted Surge as an arc of lightning snaked from her fingers and hit Mercury, "That was a low-level jolt. Get out of the car and don't give me any more crap unless you want a big one." Mercury winced in pain as the electricity ran through her body. Her liquid body warped and contorted before settling back into something that resembled human. Mercury nodded and Dust slid out of the car.

"Where does this one rank on our list of bad situations?" asked Hellion as he joined his two teammates.

"Is it true?" asked Mercury as she looked at him.

"Is what true?" asked Hellion in return.

"That 'trust fund' of yours," said Mercury, "That money came from the Kingmaker, didn't it?"

"You don't have any time to talk about this," said Kingmaker, "Mr. Keller, I need you on that plane there. What happens to the girls isn't my concern."

"You can't expect them to just walk away," said Surge, "They'll come after you."

"So take them out then," ordered Kingmaker as he gestured to some of his men. They grabbed Hellion and escorted him to the plane. Mercury moved to stop them and felt a bolt of lightning hit her in the back.

"Killing them wasn't part of the deal," reminded Surge.

"I make the rules," retorted Kingmaker, "If you want your relationship with Mr. Alleyne back then you're going to have to work for it." Kingmaker walked towards the aircraft and left a few of his agents to make sure Surge did what he told her to do. He had obligations to complete concerning his client and, personally, he couldn't wait to see what that client had in store for Julian Keller. Kingmaker hadn't forgotten the incident he had been involved in with the Hellions. It was a demeaning ordeal that left him with a very nasty grudge against all of the kids involved, Julian in particular. He practically died of laughter when Hellion had come to him begging for scraps but the moral humiliation he had put Julian through wasn't enough punishment.

"Fine," agreed Surge as her hands lit up with lightning and she turned to Dust, "We'll start with you." Dust held up her hand and a torrent of sand shot from it, sending Surge to the ground. Sooraya was still weak from the shot she had taken at the bar but she would use whatever strength she had left to resist. The agents Kingmaker employed quickly pointed their guns at Dust. Mercury quickly threw herself in between the men and Dust. The bullets sank harmlessly into her liquid metal body.

"I know how it feels, Nori," assured Mercury as her hands turned into claws and she came at the first agent in line, "I wanted him to fix things between me and my parents. It'll be a lie, Nori. The Kingmaker will get psychics or whoever else to mess with David's head until he takes you back." Cessily's claws turned the first man's gun into pieces with one swipe. Her other hand contorted itself into a blunt object that she hit the man over the head with.

"You'll be living a lie too," reminded Surge as she picked herself off the ground, "You'll be out running around playing hero and living off of money your leader took from a bad guy, money that he had to kill for. I guess I can live with myself if you can." Mercury contorted her body to avoid the bolt of lightning that came her way. It hit one of the Kingmaker's agents, the man falling to the ground in a spastic fit as the electricity struck him. She knew she had to kill time. The trail of liquid mercury she had been leaving wasn't much but she knew if her teammates discovered it, they would waste no time in following it back to her. She had to hold the line until reinforcements arrived. Unfortunately, due to the pieces of herself she had to leave behind to make the trail, Cessily was moving slower than usual. That meant she couldn't dodge Surge's lightning bolts forever.

"You're being completely unreasonable," said Mercury as she came at Surge.

"You're in complete denial," retorted Surge as she fired a lightning bolt at Mercury that hit her square in the chest, "You have to know it's suicide to go against someone with my power, Cess."

"I think all of us are used to suicide missions," assured Mercury. Surge let out another lightning attack but a giant object made of rock jumped in front of Mercury to take the blow.

"You girls really know how to throw a party," said Rockslide as he looked down at his teammate, "We could see the lightning for miles."

XXXXX

"Where are we going?" The two agents escorted Hellion to his seat. He sat down and watched as they clamped his feet to the chair and connected his manacles to the arms of the seat.

"My client wants to deal with you personally," assured the Kingmaker as he gestured to the two agents before regally sitting down in his own chair across the aisle from Julian. The two agents went into the cockpit and prepared the plane for takeoff. Kingmaker had only settled into his seat for two seconds before a set of clamps suddenly locked his legs to the chair and his arms to the armrests in a mirror of Hellion's restraints.

"What the hell is this?" asked Kingmaker in surprise as he struggled against the restraints. Hellion's laughter couldn't reach over the roar of the engines as the plane lurched forward and took off into the sky. Kingmaker clicked a button on the armrest in an attempt to notify his minions in the cockpit of his current accommodations.

"Little change of plans, boss," explained one of them over the intercom, "You see, you cut us a pretty large paycheck but, well, we got a better offer from this new client of yours. You can understand that, right? I mean it's nothing personal; it's just business."

"You ingrates!" snarled the Kingmaker as he continued to struggle against the clamps, "I made you what you are and I swear that when I get out of this I will break you! Do you hear me? I will destroy your wretched, pathetic lives!"

"I really don't see how you could get used to this kind of talk, big brother." Hellion's attention perked up at the very familiar voice. His attention turned to the television screen that had come alive with a video of his brother, James.

"What the hell is this about, James?" asked Hellion.

"I'm the client," stated James with a smirk, "It's not surprising that you couldn't figure it out, Julian. You were never very bright."

"This treatment was never part of our agreement," said Kingmaker as he gestured to his shackles.

"I'm amending the agreement," explained James, "You see, my big brother's little superhero career isn't the only blight on the family name I'm attempting to destroy. I'm sick of my family constantly owing you favors, Kingmaker. I'm sick of the fact that all our fortune came to us through your scheming and manipulations. I bribed a few of your men and concocted this nice, little scheme. You see, there's a bomb on this plane and I doubt either of you are in a position to diffuse it. That means that tonight is the last night either of you will embarrass or humiliate my family ever again."


	4. Fly or Die

The Children's Crusade (Part Four)

By TheLostMaximoff

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Share the love because it's the day after Valentine's Day. R/R.

"This is highly intolerable," stated the Kingmaker as he craned his neck in an attempt to reach something in his jacket pocket, "Your idiot brother is going to get us both killed."

"That's the general idea," reminded Hellion, "Please tell me you have a way to get me out of these cuffs."

"They're voice activated," explained Kingmaker, "They're calibrated to your brother's voice because they're his design and not mine." Hellion mentally assessed the situation. He and the Kingmaker were strapped into the seats of a plane that was most likely on autopilot and they were riding along with a bomb that would, no doubt, obliterate them both as well as crash the plane on whatever city they happened to be flying over. In conclusion, they were completely screwed unless they could figure a way out of their predicament.

"What are you doing?" asked Hellion with an arched eyebrow as the Kingmaker managed to fit his head inside his jacket. Kingmaker didn't reply. Instead, he simply pulled his head out and had something in his teeth. He cracked open the capsule with his teeth and spat the thing at the manacle clamped around his right hand. The contents of the capsule spilled onto the clamp and quickly began to eat through it.

"Acid capsule," explained Kingmaker as he slipped his hand out of the manacle and tried to find out how to further free himself.

"So where do you think that bomb is?" asked Hellion.

"I'm not concerned with that," assured Kingmaker as he tried to figure out how the manacles were controlled, "What I'm concerned with is making sure I get out of here alive. My escape plan doesn't involve diffusing the bomb."

"That doesn't surprise me," admitted Hellion as he looked for some way to free himself, "Any other gadgets you have that would get us out of this?"

"I'm afraid I don't have any more acid capsules," said Kingmaker, "As you can note, I'm not wearing my sunglasses either so an optic blast is out of the question. Wearing them at night would just look . . . tacky." Kingmaker slipped something out of the cuff of his shirt and used his free hand to work on the other manacle with it.

"What's that?" asked Hellion.

"Lock-pick," replied Kingmaker, "Nothing so technologically advanced. Just good, old-fashioned hard work and ingenuity." The manacle suddenly popped open and Kingmaker flexed his wrist.

"I have to admit I wouldn't peg you as this resourceful," admitted Hellion.

"You'd be surprised," assured Kingmaker as he started working on the clamps around his ankles. He quickly managed to free his legs and then made his way to the cockpit.

"My brother isn't an idiot," said Hellion as he watched Kingmaker come back into the cabin and then move to the very back of the plane, "I doubt you're going to find any parachutes."

"That leaves me with the dubious task of getting you free," said Kingmaker as he came back into the main cabin, "Not exactly something I plan on enjoying."

"Considering you're the jerk who strapped me into this thing in the first place, I think it's fitting," replied Hellion with a smirk as Kingmaker went to work on his cuffs, "Don't think this changes anything though."

"It won't," assured Kingmaker as he continued trying to free Julian, "By the way, I believe I found the bomb."

"Where is it?" asked Hellion skeptically.

"The safest place on an airplane," replied Kingmaker sarcastically, "The black box was beeping. If it's really a black box then there's no way we're going to be able to get to the bomb inside."

"Momma didn't raise a fool," said Hellion.

XXXXX

The air came alive with static as Surge let out another lightning attack. Rockslide had his arms firmly locked around Nori's waist, pinning her arms down to her sides. Surge thrashed violently, kicking her feet and letting out bursts of lightning in an attempt to break free.

"You know, I could just sit on you if you wanted," reminded Rockslide, the lightning doing very little to hurt him let alone cause him to release his grip.

"If you don't let me go . . .," snarled Surge.

"Hey, Cess!" called out Rockslide, "What do you want me to do with her?"

"Dust her," said Mercury as she looked at Pixie, "Just give her enough to stop her from fighting. Don't get too crazy with it." Pixie nodded and tossed a small handful of her pixie dust into Surge's face. Surge coughed and continued to struggle but her vision was starting to blur. Colors became more vibrant and familiar shapes suddenly began to twist and contort.

"Let her go," said Mercury, "Julian is on that plane."

"What plane?" asked Anole.

"It took off already," explained Mercury as she scanned the sky, "It looked like it was heading east." Everyone suddenly turned and looked at Pixie as her cell phone rang. Pixie quickly grabbed her phone and answered it.

"It's Julian," said Hellion, "Don't hang up."

"Where are you and how come you're calling me?" asked Pixie.

"I'm using the Kingmaker's cell phone," explained Hellion, "His client is my brother. James is trying to screw both of us by locking us in this plane with a bomb. I have these stupid cuffs on me that block my powers and we can't get them off."

"We need to get up to the plane," paraphrased Pixie as she looked to Mercury, "They're locked in with a bomb and Julian can't use his powers."

"Sooraya," said Mercury, "Can you get up to that plane?"

"Doubtful," admitted Dust, "I am still weak and at a certain altitude my body could disperse."

"Megan, can you fly up there?" asked Mercury.

"I can try but I don't think I can do anything," explained Pixie.

"The bomb is in the plane's black box," explained Hellion, "We can't tell if it's really a black box but if it is then we have to stop the bomb without being able to get to it."

"How are you supposed to deactivate a bomb without touching it?" asked Pixie as she looked at the rest of her team.

"Can't he chuck it out the plane with his power?" asked Rockslide.

"Weren't you listening to me?" asked Pixie, "He has these cuffs on that stop his power."

"I don't think any of us can get up there or stop it if we could," admitted Mercury, "We'd have to . . ." She suddenly looked at Surge. Nori was lying on the ground, her eyes sufficiently glazed over.

"Crap," muttered Anole as he realized what Mercury was thinking, "Megan, how do we get her to come down?"

"No clue," replied Pixie, "What do you need her for?"

"She absorbs electricity," explained Mercury quickly, "She can deactivate the timer on the bomb by sucking all the juice out of it."

"Crap," repeated Rockslide as he looked down at Surge, "We're totally screwed."

XXXXX

It was as if everything was amplified to some insane degree. Colors were brighter, sounds were louder, and sensations of touch were incredibly sensitive. Surge mumbled something incoherently as she stared at a blue, cloudless sky. She could feel the grass grazing against her skin. The scene around her kept flickering though. It was as if she could reach out and punch through the beautiful sky to find the ugly darkness behind it.

"Nori." Surge heard the voice and a face came into view, hovering over her like some sort of ethereal spirit.

"David?" asked Surge desperately.

"No, Nori, it's Cessily," explained Mercury, "Nori, we need you back now. Julian's in trouble and you're the only one who can help him."

"You never liked Julian," said Surge in a confused tone, "David, I'm sorry about what happened."

"Nori, David is gone," stated Mercury as she gently shook her friend, "David is gone and it was your fault. I know that hurts. It sucks and it hurts but it's the truth and we're still friends so you deserve to hear the truth. We can't afford to lose anyone else, Nori."

"I just wanted everything to go back," whimpered Surge.

"We can't," explained Mercury, "We can't change what's happened, Nori. The only thing we can change is what will happen. Are you going to let Julian die or are you going to save him?"

"Cess?" asked Surge as she shook her head, "Cess, what's going on? I can't see things straight." The flickering was getting worse. Surge wanted nothing more than to go back to the days when things made sense. It was easier back then or at least that was what she told herself. She wanted a quick fix but she knew in her heart there wasn't one. Going back wasn't the answer. The only chance she had was to push forward.

"Julian's on a plane," explained Mercury, "There's a bomb."

"Get me up there," ordered Surge as she got up and shook her head as she tried to steady herself, "Get me up there!" Pixie grabbed Surge's wrist and took off. The younger girl struggled to gain altitude with the extra weight as she headed east. She could see the plane in the distance.

"I treated you guys like crap," admitted Surge as Pixie flittered drunkenly towards the plane, bobbing and dipping due to the weight.

"It's cool," assured Pixie over the roar of the engines, "I don't think I can get closer."

"Throw me!" shouted Surge.

"I think you weigh too much!" shouted back Pixie. Surge moved upwards and wrapped her hands around Pixie's neck. Pixie wobbled and tried to move closer to the plane. She understood what Nori wanted her to do. She put her hands under Surge's foot and then launched Nori towards the plane. It was part jump and part toss but it was enough to let Surge grab onto one of the wings. Surge hauled herself up and quickly wrapped both her arms and legs around the wing.

"I'm gonna die," muttered Surge to herself as she inched herself towards the plane, "I am so gonna die."

XXXXX

"What the hell are you doing?" asked Kingmaker as Hellion slammed his manacled hands against the emergency exit door.

"Trying to break these damn things," explained Hellion, "What the hell did my brother make them out of, adamantium?"

"What are your teammates on the ground doing?" asked Kingmaker.

"No clue," replied Hellion as he hit the door with the manacles again. He stopped and concentrated, trying to use his telekinesis but failing. He cursed in frustration as he tried to figure out what to do next. Hellion jumped back suddenly as a bolt of lightning hit the door and blew it open. The cabin quickly began to depressurize and Hellion thought he heard someone shouting.

"Someone give me a hand!" yelled Surge.

"Nori's out there!" shouted Hellion. Kingmaker nodded and moved to the open doorway. He could see Surge hanging onto the wing of the plane. He stuck out his hand and Nori reached to grab it. She let go of the wing and grabbed the Kingmaker's arm with both hands. Kingmaker pulled Surge into the plane.

"Where's the bomb?" asked Surge.

"Black box," replied Kingmaker, "Back of the plane." Surge moved towards Hellion and studied the manacles that were blocking his powers.

"This thing runs on electricity," explained Surge, "I can feel the voltage. I think I can just absorb all the power and shut them down." She felt the electricity suddenly leap out of device and into her fingers. Everyone suddenly felt the plane lurch uncontrollably.

"What was that?" asked Hellion. Surge looked down and saw that the wristbands she was using to control her power were damaged.

"I can't control the input," explained Surge, "I think I'm sucking power out of the plane." The aircraft suddenly dropped like a stone.

"Can you grab this thing?" asked Surge as she looked at Hellion desperately. Hellion concentrated and felt something. He could feel the strange tingling feeling that meant his powers were active again.

"Julian, grab it!" ordered Surge as the plane continued its descent at an alarming speed. It was mere inches off the ground before Hellion grabbed it with his telekinesis and stopped it from hitting the pavement.

"The bomb," said Hellion as he motioned to the back of the plane. Surge nodded and ran to the back. She could feel her power still feeding off the electricity in the surrounding area. She located the black box and grabbed it. Nori couldn't feel any electricity inside it. That meant that the bomb was deactivated.

"We're good," assured Surge, "I think when I started absorbing the electricity out of the plane I sucked it out of the detonator too." Hellion nodded and then watched the Kingmaker attempt to skulk away. With the plane mere inches off the ground, he could easily jump to the street below and get away unless, of course, Julian had other ideas.

"You're not going anywhere," assured Hellion as he telekinetically grabbed the Kingmaker and kept him from exiting the plane. He used his invisible grip on the machine to lift it back into the air and push it back towards the airstrip.

"I need to let out some juice," explained Surge as she shocked the Kingmaker into unconsciousness, "Julian, I think we need to talk."

"Should I expect another jolt?" asked Hellion as he gave Surge a wary look.

"First of all," began Surge, "I kissed you to get David away from me. It had nothing to do with you or any hidden feelings I might have about you so get that fantasy crap out of your head."

"If you say so," said Hellion with a smirk as he stopped the plane at the airstrip and lowered it to the ground.

"Second of all," continued Surge, "I think I want to be on this team, Julian. I screwed you guys and I did it for something that would have been a lie. I want to make up for that."

"Lying is the trendy thing to do," assured Hellion as he got off the plane and looked at the rest of his team, "How are we holding up?"

"I think we're good," replied Mercury with a smile, "How are you?"

"Things could be better," admitted Surge as she disembarked, "I think those cuffs could still work after a jolt if you wanna slap them on me and leave me here for The Initiative."

"There's some stuff we need to get straight," said Hellion as he looked at his friends, "I lied to you. My trust fund is nowhere near close to covering what it's going to take to run this team for any long period of time and I knew that from the start. The money I got to find you guys and make you those fake IDs came from the Kingmaker. I had to do a lot of bad things to get it. I'm not proud of what I did but the only reason I did it was to keep this team together. We're a family and I couldn't deal with the idea of losing you. If you don't want to be a part of this because of what I did then I understand."

The group of young mutants looked at one another in silence and thought about what they should do. No one could blame them for wanting to quit. Many of them had thought about in the past but for one reason or another all of them chose to keep going. Some of them had no family or home so the choice was easy. Some of them had a family and a home so the choice to walk away from it had been difficult. In the end, all of them had reached the same conclusion. They were possibly the last generation of X-Men and possibly the last team of X-Men still standing. When faced with the ramifications of their decision, there was only one possible choice they could make.

"You couldn't survive without us," said Anole, "We can't function as a team without you. This is pretty much a no-brainer."

"We have all made mistakes," said Dust as she looked at Surge, "I cannot speak for everyone, Nori, but I would welcome you if you chose to stay with us."

"I think I'd like that," admitted Surge, "Don't grant me any special favors though."

"So if we can cut this 'group hug' crap for a second," spoke up Rockslide, "I think the cops and the super-lame squad are gonna show up soon considerin' we almost dropped a plane on part of L.A."

"We got business in New York," informed Hellion grimly, "Megan, you think you can zap us there?"

"Oh my God, you're gonna kill me!" whined Pixie, "I teleport you guys here, I have to dust Nori then I almost pull a wing carrying her, and now you want me to teleport you across the country? I never gonna make it to work in the morning at this rate."

"What's in New York?" asked Mercury.

"The Kingmaker did all this on the order of a client," explained Hellion, "The client was my brother, James. He's the one who trapped us in the plane and rigged it to explode. He wanted to wipe the disgrace from our family name. I plan on wiping Wall Street with him instead. Megan, can you get us there or not?"

"I think at this point I'd rather take my chances with demons," admitted Pixie, "Everybody grab your lunch. I've been practicing but never with this many people." There was a flash of otherworldly energy and the seven teenagers suddenly vanished into thin air.


	5. True Believers

The Children's Crusade (Part Five)

By TheLostMaximoff

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

Hellion didn't make it a habit of visiting the offices in New York City. He had been there with his "little" brother a couple times but Julian stayed in Los Angeles most of the time. James and Julian were twins and although they weren't identical there was enough family resemblance to see that they were brothers. Apparently, the resemblance was more than physical. The New X-Men suddenly appeared in the middle of Times Square.

"Right, that won't attract the attention of The Initiative at all," said Anole sarcastically, "I hope you're planning on making this quick. It's easier to hide from SHIELD when we're not in their backyard."

"Oh trust me," assured Hellion, "I plan on making this very quick." Hellion quickly moved down the street towards the office of Keller Enterprises. He knew James would still be at the office. His brother practically slept there and he had seen the office in the background of the video feed on the plane. Hellion didn't know if that feed was live but he knew the office was the first place to start.

"I got us as close as I could," said Pixie as the young mutants followed their leader, weaving through the streets of New York City, "I don't really know how to control where I land."

"We're not far away," assured Hellion as he suddenly stopped in front of a large office building, "Let's just hope he's still here." Hellion didn't pause as he marched through the front door and moved towards the elevator, "Santo, take a group up the stairs and meet me at the top floor." Rockslide nodded and took Pixie and Dust with him to the stairs. Surge, Anole, Hellion, and Mercury took the elevator.

"What are you going to do to him?" asked Mercury as Hellion hit the button for the proper floor.

"He tried to blow me up," reminded Hellion, "What do you think I'm going to do to him?"

XXXXX

James Keller had barely put his phone down before his office door suddenly came off its hinges and flew down the hall. James could only assume the occurrence heralded the arrival of his older, by mere minutes, brother. James Keller was only seventeen but he possessed all the practicality and business sense of someone his father's age. It wasn't a huge secret among the Keller family that James had always been jealous of his slightly older brother. Julian was the one who developed superhuman abilities while James was simply human. Julian gained the opportunity to waste his days in school while James had to learn the family business. The fact that the Kellers had changed their will to name James heir to the business wasn't enough for him. Julian Keller was a publicity nightmare that James could no longer afford to ignore. His master plan may have failed but it didn't mean that he wasn't prepared with a backup plan.

"You always knew how to make a scene," admitted James as he calmly sat in his chair and watched Hellion enter the room flanked by the rest of the New X-Men.

"Do Mom and Dad know what you just tried to do?" asked Hellion. James's desk developed a greenish glow before it flew into a nearby wall, leaving nothing standing in between the two Keller brothers.

"I doubt they would be upset," replied James calmly, "It's not as if they enjoy watching you make scene after scene in the public eye. It's why they rewrote their will to give me control of the company."

"There's a difference between cutting someone out and killing them!" snapped Hellion furiously as he grabbed James by the collar of his expensive shirt and held him up in the air, "I'm your brother, James!"

"You stopped being my brother the second you walked through the doors of Xavier's," retorted James, "You are nothing but an embarrassment, Julian. Mom and Dad weren't going to take the necessary steps so I decided that duty would fall to me."

"You're going to try it again, aren't you?" asked Hellion in dismay.

"As many times as necessary," assured James. The window of James's office suddenly opened of its own accord thanks to Julian's telekinesis. Hellion dragged James towards the window and stood precariously close to the ledge.

"It's just going to keep going and going," stated Hellion as he dangled James out of the window, "It's just going to keep going and going until one of us stops it. Which one of us is going to stop it, James?"

"Go ahead and drop me," dared James with a cruel grin, "I put in a call to SHIELD. I told them about those IDs that you had the Kingmaker create for you and your friends. You're a wanted man, Julian. I guarantee you in five minutes this place will be swarming with SHIELD agents. If you want to stick around to explain a murder to them then be my guest."

"You know it's not worth it," said Surge. Hellion closed his eyes for a moment and willed his arm to toss his brother back inside the office.

"I know," said Hellion finally as he opened his eyes. He punched his younger brother in the face for good measure, knocking him out cold with one shot.

"We need to leave," said Mercury, "You heard what he said about SHIELD."

"Actually, you don't need to worry," assured a voice. Everyone turned and saw a young, Asian girl in jeans, a t-shirt, and a trench coat calmly walk into the room and then give James a disgusted look.

"Who are you?" asked Hellion skeptically.

"How quickly they all forget," muttered the girl with a sigh, "My name is 'Jubilation Lee'. You might've heard about me once or twice, probably from Logan."

"Wait, Jubilee?" asked Rockslide as he looked at the former X-Man and Generation X member, "Wow, uhm, you . . . grew?" It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that Rockslide's eyes were fixed to Jubilee's chest when he made the comment. Jubilee calmly walked up to him and proceeded to slap him across the face, the blow leaving a noticeable mark on Rockslide's stony cheek.

"Pym Particle derivative," explained Jubilee, "Anybody else wanna make a comment on my boobs?"

"Freakin' crap that hurt!" exclaimed Rockslide as he rubbed his jaw, "I thought X-Men were supposed to be cool with each other."

"For the record, I'm a New Warrior now," explained Jubilee, "James Keller has been using Keller Enterprises to make all kinds of shady deals, a few of them involving super-villains. We've had taps on his phones for weeks now so we can gather enough evidence to bring him down. Whatever call he tried to make to SHIELD tonight wouldn't have made it through our screen. They won't be coming to bust you guys but that doesn't mean you should loiter if you catch my drift."

"So what happens to him?" asked Hellion.

"Your brother's going to hopefully spend some time in jail," assured Jubilee, "We plan on turning him over to the cops. After that, it's up to the law. I'll say one thing about you kids. You've got spunk."

"That's a good thing, right?" asked Pixie, "I think I heard Wolverine say that too."

"Knowing Logan, it was probably followed by 'I really hate spunk'," said Jubilee, "You guys get out of here. I'm sure the police will respond to the disturbance you created. I expect to see more of your handiwork in the future when I turn on the news."

"We aim to please," assured Hellion, "There's a little favor I'd like to ask though."

"What?" asked Jubilee.

"I heard my brother has designed these cuffs that block powers," explained Hellion, "You think you could make me a modified set that someone could wear in order to control their powers?"

"Kaz and Grace always enjoy challenges," assured Jubilee, "We'll grab the blueprints off his company's databases and let you know when we cook something up." Julian nodded as he took his team and headed for the door. Jubilee smiled and shook her head as she watched them go. Life was never as wonderful as it was when she was young.

"Julian?" asked Jubilee as she watched the New X-Men go, "It's Julian, right?"

"That would be me," assured Hellion as he turned and gave Jubilee a smirk, "You wanted to give me something?"

"Sofia says 'hi'," explained Jubilee with a grin. Hellion smiled and nodded before taking his team and leaving the building.

"Home?" asked Pixie hopefully.

"Home," agreed Hellion.

XXXXX

It took a few hours of sleep and a hot shower before Noriko Ashida realized that she had missed being in the company of her friends. She realized it was foolish to think that she could trade them away on the hope of getting back something she didn't really want in the first place. Surge rubbed her hair with a towel and walked into the living room of the apartment. Rockslide was sleeping on the floor while Hellion was doing the same on the couch. Anole slumbered in one of the recliners while Dust, ever the early riser, was sitting up in the other one while sipping some tea.

"I think this is the first time I've seen your face," joked Surge.

"Surely not," replied Dust as Nori sat on the floor and looked around for the remote control, "We were once roommates. I can recall many instances where you saw my face."

"You know there are men in the room, right?" asked Surge teasingly.

"I have known them for at least a year and a half," reminded Dust, "I believe I am allowed to . . . 'bend' a few rules."

"My time as your roommate was not in vain," confirmed Surge with a smile, "Sooraya . . . I just wanted to apologize."

"You already have," reminded Dust, "We were both foolish about things, Noriko. I see no reason why we cannot move past it."

"I agree," said Surge. There was movement on the couch as Hellion slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"You've looked better," commented Surge.

"I didn't know you paid attention," replied Hellion with a smirk. There was a noise somewhere in the apartment as someone exited their room and occupied the bathroom.

"I believe that was Cessily," said Dust, "I think I should wake Megan. She will have to explain her absence to her employer." Dust gave Surge a glance that said she knew a bit more than even Nori herself did before leaving the room.

"I think we were just set up," decided Hellion as he got off the couch and took a seat on the floor while Surge quickly grabbed the recliner that Dust vacated.

"You think something's going to happen?" asked Surge with an arched eyebrow.

"Hey, you're the one who kissed me last time," reminded Hellion, "Never saw that one coming."

"I thought we already had this conversation," replied Surge.

"True," admitted Hellion, "There's another conversation I wanna have with you anyway. I don't think I can run this team by myself."

"They'd follow you anywhere," said Surge, "What more do you need?"

"Aside from your moment of temptation, you've always been pretty level-headed," explained Hellion, "You're not afraid to say what you think, you stick to your guns, and you don't mind taking charge when you have to. Miss Frost may not have believed in you as a leader but I think I do. After your probation period is over, you wanna help me lead this team?"

"That would mean us working together," reminded Surge with a grin, "Can you handle me giving orders?"

"I suppose it depends on whether or not you can handle me doing the same thing," replied Hellion, "If you're okay with that then I'm okay with you being on top once and a while."

"Ignoring your innuendo, I think we have a deal," said Surge as she extended her hand.

"Deal then," agreed Hellion as he shook her hand and then got up to see if he could steal the shower.

"I never thanked you for trying to get me new gauntlets," reminded Surge.

"You don't have to," replied Hellion.

XXXXX

It had been around two weeks since the New X-Men officially reformed. Rockslide, Hellion, and Anole had managed to secure an apartment in the same building as the girls. They didn't have a Danger Room, a Cerebra, or any of the more expensive things they had access to at Xavier's. The apartment building wasn't a mansion but it suited their needs well enough. They were hitting the streets every night and, while they weren't fighting Magneto or Apocalypse, they were keeping Seattle safe from whatever villains happened to be lurking in the shadows of the city. Life began to resemble something close to normal for the young mutants.

Julian Keller idly flipped through the TV channels in an effort to relieve some boredom. He tapped his fingers against his leg nervously as he waited for the sun to finally set and night to come over the city. They didn't go out on patrol until it got dark though the members of the team that could move through the city without raising eyebrows sometimes did a few good deeds during the daylight hours.

"You nervous?" asked Rockslide as he watched Hellion flick through the channels.

"I'm always a little nervous," admitted Hellion. There was a knock at the door. Rockslide and Hellion looked at each other for a second before Hellion tossed away the remote and got up to answer the door.

"Julian," greeted a voice Hellion never expected to hear again. Hellion didn't respond immediately. He was too stunned by the fact that Emma Frost was standing on his doorstep.

"Should I call you 'Emma' or 'Miss Frost'?" asked Hellion.

"Call your team together," ordered Emma, "I want to have a talk with all of you."

"If you insist," said Hellion as he stepped past Emma and walked down the hall, knocking on the door of the girls' apartment.

"The sun hasn't set yet," said Mercury as she answered the door, "What's up?"

"Team meeting at our place," replied Hellion, "Look out into the hall and tell me if you see what I see." Mercury shrugged and looked out into the hallway, quickly doing a double take at who was standing there.

"What's she doing here?" asked Mercury.

"Team meeting," repeated Hellion, "Grab the others and come over." Mercury disappeared into the apartment. Hellion could hear her talking to the other girls before all four of them came out of the apartment and walked over to the one the boys were in.

"Are you mad at us?" asked Pixie meekly as she looked at Emma.

"Something like that," replied Emma with a glare. Pixie nervously looked away from Emma and scurried into the room as if she was diving for cover to avoid an imminent explosion.

"What do you think this is about?" asked Rockslide as Emma walked into the apartment and began studying the place with an appraising eye.

"Do you even have to ask?" asked Anole in response, "Ten to one she came here to shut us down."

"That was my intention, Victor," admitted Emma as she turned to face her former students, "I assume that you children are the ones who are beating up super-villains and spray-painting giant X's on their unconscious bodies."

"Told you that was a bad idea," said Anole as he looked at Rockslide.

"Dude, the New Warriors do that crap all the time," reminded Rockslide, "We're way cooler than they are."

"Yeah, that's our handiwork," spoke up Hellion, "Are we going to get a lecture about it?"

"I came here to _ask_ you to stop," explained Emma, "I won't lecture, I won't demand, and I won't force you but you have no idea the trouble you're bringing upon yourselves."

"I think we have a pretty good idea," assured Hellion, "You're not our teacher anymore, Emma, so I don't have to worry about getting in trouble for saying what I really think. We're not going to stop, not now and not ever."

"The X-Men are over," stated Emma, "We got what we deserved. You can't teach peace through violence, Julian. The world is no longer a place for vigilantes, especially vigilantes that aren't even legally considered adults."

"So all that crap we heard about how X-Men never quit was a lie?" asked Hellion, "People out there are more afraid now than they were before; they're just not aware of it. Someone has to protect them."

"That's what The Initiative is for," countered Emma, "Professor Xavier's method no longer works, Julian. Scott and I came to realize this and that's why we disbanded the X-Men."

"You took your ball and went home because things got too tough," summed up Hellion, "That's fine and I don't have a problem with your choice. That's _your_ choice though, Emma. We never chose that because we're not through playing yet. The world still needs X-Men and if you won't step up then we will."

"Dude, high five," said Rockslide as he raised his hand, "Seriously, that was freakin' sick burn."

"Your choice is your choice," admitted Emma curtly, her jaw cinched tightly as she bit back the urge to force her children to stop this foolishness and return home to their families, "I warned you because I still care about your well-being. I won't make your decisions for you."

"How are the others?" asked Hellion as Emma turned to leave.

"Adjusting," replied Emma, "I haven't checked on the other children but, honestly, I think they're probably proud of you. I know some of the adults are."

"You were a good teacher," admitted Hellion as Emma stood in the doorway.

"Good teachers are meaningless without good students to teach," replied Emma as she looked back and flashed the young mutants a rare smile, "I have to admit, all of you weren't just good students. All of you were _exceptional_ students." With that, Emma Frost left the apartment.

"I think she just gave us her blessing," said Surge with a perplexed look, "I guess that means we're really X-Men now."

"We're kinda all that's left," reminded Pixie.

"Yeah, we are," agreed Hellion, "As long as there's something left then our friends didn't die in vain. I think it's time we go out there and show everyone the X-Men aren't dead yet."

The rest of the New X-Men nodded in agreement. In their long and storied history, the X-Men had crawled out from their own graves time and time again to remind the world that the dream of Charles Xavier was still worth fighting for and, in some cases, still worth dying for. The X-Men had always taught their children that surrender was never an option, that one simply couldn't stand back and allow the world to be consumed with hate and malice. The young mutants had seen enough senseless brutality to realize what the world could become if the X-Men were no longer there to stand up against it. Now they were the ones crawling out of their graves to continue the fight. The children of the X-Men had learned their lessons well and now it was time to prove that some dreams can never die.


End file.
